Celebrating the unacknowledged and unappreciated life of women in our modern materialistic ego-driven culture, recognizing her unvalued contribution in nourishing and upholding the very fabric and foundation of life and civilization in the planet. The purpose is not to put women in a higher pedestal nor to emasculate men, but to arrive at a deeper understanding of the role of feminine in conscious human evolution, wise understanding and gender communication at all levels.

12/02/2010

Yes Madam Sir, Kiran Bedi and Doing Time, Doing Vipassana

More on Kiran BediDoing Time Doing Vipassana is a very moving documentary produced by Israeli Filmakers. It captures the experience of prison inmates in Delhi's notorious Tihar Jail before, during and after Vipassana training. In 1993, as the newly appointed Inspector General, Kiran Bedi, undertook major reforms of the Indian prison system. She asked for advice and found her answer inside the Tihar prison through an ancient Indian system of meditation called Vipassana, which was rediscovered by Gotama Buddha more than 2,500 years ago. Bedi's strong belief was that without reform inside prison, ex-prisoners would continue to commit crimes outside of prison. She instituted 10-day Vipassana meditation courses, first for prison staff, then for inmates. Following the success of the program in India, Vipassana has been introduced in a few prisons within USAPrison Dharma Network is founded in 1989 by Fleet Maull, a former federal prisoner turned Dharma Teacher. PDN's mission is to provide prisoners, and those who work with them, with the most effective contemplative tools for self-transformation and rehabilitation. The US prison population exceeds 2.4 million and is out of control and we spend nearly 70 billion dollars to keep the system going. wikipedia One percent of this huge sum can easily be spent on restorative mindfulness and yoga practices for long term rehab and recidivism reduction. Without citizen awareness and civic action this is not likely to happen. [Alabama prison Interview by Buddhist Geek]

Brahma dwells in homes where children respect their parents. - Buddha, Itivuttaka

"To be female is to have the dukkha of a female, to be male is to have the dukkha of a male. Children have the dukkha of children, and adults have the dukkha of adults, as long as there is grasping and clinging."

- Buddhadasa Bhikkhu

Let us ride our horse of confidence

Use our bow and arrow of genuineness

Develop our gentleness, so we need not destroy our world.

- Chyogyam Trungpa Rinpoche

"Most Buddhists seem unaware of the critical role women can play and do not seem to care about women’s disadvantaged status. Buddhists seem to believe their own propaganda that women and men are equal in Buddhism, and are blinded to the blatant inequalities that currently exist. Some Buddhists pay lip service to women's importance, but institutional structures do not reflect any commitment to women's advancement or to women's equal participation. In fact, the mantra that women and men are equal in Buddhism acts as a kind of smokescreen to mask inequities that are clearly visible. Women continue to be sidelined in public forums, even by educated and otherwise compassionate people, both women and men""

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"Perhaps all the dragons in our lives are only princesses who are waiting to see us act just once with beauty and courage. perhaps everything terrible is, in its deepest essence, something helpless that needs our love." - Rilke